[Web4lib] Reconsidering Library 2.0 ?

[K.G. Schneider]

> Meanwhile, the core experience languishes. Library websites haven't
> changed much and OPACs have changed even less. Indeed, the core
> technology experience is if anything worse today, as patron
> expectations have risen.
> 
> It's been said before, but it deserves repeating: OPACs are
> *dreadful*. 

All this is true, as is the idea that just having a MySpace page (or a
Second Life presence) does not constitute being "2.0." I also think some
of the stepping-back is by people who never moved forward in the first
place. But that's an aside. 

The big thing is to understand that change does happen slowly in
libraries, even nimble libraries, for reasons having to do with
balancing limited (and frequently precommitted) funds, the huge
complexity of a move, data that is welded into recalcitrant proprietary
software, key services that must continue regardless of the library's
commitment to change, and other things having nothing to do with the
*desire* to move forward, or even the *intention* to move forward. 

Like the "report" that concluded only a few libraries have implemented
open source OPACs, I don't think a nose count of actual change paints an
accurate picture here. I recently evaluated the library landscape (and I
am not the only person to have done this of late) and found that quite a
few libraries are somewhere fairly far along on the spectrum of
"committed to change," many to the point of committing significant
resources. 

Some of the hesitation is quite well-founded. There are some very
interesting paths to follow, and key library leaders creating new
directions. Many projects are in rapid development. If your OPAC is not
the only problem you're coping with (or even if it is), "watchful
waiting" is not a bad strategy. Is WorldCat Local the correct path? Or
xCatalog? Or LibraryFind? Or one of the commercial solutions (Primo,
Encore, etc.)? Or Scriblio? Some of the "killer apps" are still in the
early design stages! 

We're trying to turn a slow-moving barge... and at full speed, to many,
that will seem very slow. 

K.G. Schneider